266 The Diary of a Drug Fiend
of keeping each other up to the mark in the matter of
recording the facts.
I discovered what had amused King Lamus on the
first occasion. I was conscious of a distinct shade of
annoyance at having to get up and make a little cross.
It had never occurred to me to break my word. There
was a fascination in watching the record.
The drive was a revelation. It was like coming out
of a charnel house into the fresh air. A keen cold wind
beat against our faces, almost blinding us.
It was not until we reached the inn that we re-
membered that we had come out without any heroin.
Lamus was immediately all sympathy when he heard
of our plight. He offered to go out and get some
immediately; but Lala protested that she was dying
of hunger, and she was sure that lunch would restore
our strength just as well, and King Lamus could go out
immediately we were finished eating.
We agreed. We could hardly do anything else. As
a matter of fact, the fresh air had excited in us both a
very keen appetite. The meal did us a lot of good,
and at its conclusion our host slipped out unostenta-
tiously and returned in ten minutes with a little packet
of powder.
It struck me as very extraordinary that he should
have been able to procure it at so remote a place without
a prescription. But Lou’s eyes were fixed on him with
an expression of delighted curiosity. I felt as though
somehow or other she had divined the secret.
She seemed intensely amused at my perplexity, and
stroked my hair in her most patronising manner.
“You poor brainless creature,” she seemed to be
saying with her finger-tips
Well, we all had heroin with our second cup of coffee,
and my spirits rose immediately.
Lamus produced two little note books which he had
bought in the village, so that we might record our doses
while we were-out and copy them on our charts when
we got back.